Volleyball: Brennan’s 11 kills, 4 aces lift Fulton past Polo in 1A Regional semifinal

POLO – The Fulton Steamers took control of Wednesday’s Class 1A Polo Regional semifinal match vs. the Polo Marcos midway through the first set and kept the pressure on the rest of the way to secure a 25-13, 25-22 victory.

The NUIC opponents traded blows for half of the first set, but the Steamers wouldn’t be contained for long. Fulton took an 8-5 lead on a Brooklyn Brennan ace, but a Lindee Poper ace pulled the Marcos within 12-11.

That’s as close of a margin as Polo could manage in the first set, however.

[ Photos from Fulton vs. Polo volleyball regional semifinal ]

With aggressive serves and attacks at the net, Fulton induced a series of Polo hitting errors, stretching its lead to 17-12. A Miraya Pessman ace followed by an Annaka Hackett kill pushed the margin to 19-12. Another Pessman ace and Hackett kill back-to-back extended the lead to 23-12 before the Steamers closed out the first set.

“We kept our heads up and stayed positive the whole time,” Brennan said, commenting on how the Steamers pulled away in the first set. “We didn’t let anybody get down.”

Polo took charge early in the second set, grabbing a 4-2 lead on a Sydnei Rahn block kill, a 9-4 lead on an Ellie Wells block and an 11-5 advantage on a Poper kill.

“To play how they did last night [in the regional quarterfinals],” Polo coach Emily Joines said, referencing her message to the team coming out of the first set. “Their efforts against Milledgeville were probably the best that most of us have seen all season, so I was hoping we could use that momentum coming into this game against another really good team. And I think they showed that in the second set.”

After Polo grabbed the early lead, Fulton responded with a surge of its own.

Brennan served three consecutive aces to trim the deficit to 13-11 before a Pessman ace knotted the set at 13-13. Polo took back the lead briefly at 15-13 after a pair of Steamer hitting errors, then maintained the two-point lead at 17-15 after a Rahn block kill, but it wouldn’t hold for long. A Brennan kill tied the set at 17-17, and back-to-back Pessman aces stretched the lead to 20-17.

“We had a huge advantage in the front row. We have some really big middle hitters up there, and they smoked it down for us,” Brennan said. “And back row was phenomenal today. We kept our digs up.”

After a brief lull defensively, the Marcos quickly recovered, finding answers of their own. A Poper kill drew the Marcos within 22-21, then a Poper block kill tied the set at 22-22.

But with a Brennan kill, a Brennan ace and an Ava Bowen kill, the Steamers secured the second set and earned a trip to the regional final Thursday against Newman.

“I thought the first set wasn’t our best effort, but the second set I was really proud of the girls,” Joines said. “We finally started covering their hitters a little bit more, covering our blockers. Fulton’s a good team, and they put forth a really solid effort tonight.

“I’m pretty proud of our kids.”

Brennan finished with 11 kills, 10 assists, seven digs and four aces; Hackett had seven kills and six digs; Pessman had five kills, six digs, four aces and 16 assists; and Bowen added seven digs and four kills for Fulton. Resse Germann added 11 digs for the Steamers.

Poper had two kills, three blocks and three digs; while Rahn added two blocks for Polo.